Patience was a virtue for Park Vista on Wednesday.
The Cobras drew nine walks and were hit by three pitches and six of those runners scored in a 14-4 run-rule victory over Jupiter in Lake Worth.
“We did take advantage of that,” Park Vista coach Larry Greenstein said. “We didn’t come out of our shoes swinging. We were very patient. Our hitters showed a little bit of maturity there, not trying to do too much and take what’s given.”
The Cobras (5-2) took the most advantage of the Warriors’ (2-4) command issues in the sixth inning. Park Vista entered the inning with a 6-4 lead. But catcher Austin Fawley, a junior Kentucky commit, led off the inning with a hit by pitch, and the next two hitters, Tristan Rucker and CJ. Rucker, drew walks. Erick Tavares took a hit by pitch, as well, driving in a run. The next hitter, Javy Soto, drove in a run with another hit by pitch.
The Cobras exploded for eight runs in the inning, scoring runs on an RBI single by Tristan Barenburg, a wild pitch, an RBI single by Fawley and a run-scoring walk by Tristan Rucker. Jupiter had the opportunity to prevent an early ending, as Tavares popped up to left field. But left fielder Bobby Fasulo dropped the fly ball, and the winning run scored.
Barenburg, Fawley and senior Jacob Hurley finished the game with multiple hits for the Cobras.
Before Park Vista’s big final inning, Jupiter briefly held the lead. The Warriors got on the board first on a pair of unearned runs in the second inning. The Cobras came back with four runs in the third inning and tacked on two more in the fourth. Jupiter’s Jesse Sullivan cut the lead back to two in the fifth inning before Park Vista broke the game open in the sixth inning.
“It wasn’t one of their better days, and it wasn’t one of our better days,” Greenstein said. “We just took advantage, I think, of a few more opportunities that were given to us. It was a strange high-school game between two quality teams.”
